SIFF 2013 Archive

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Laurence Anyways

Canada (Québec) | 2012 | 168 minutes | Xavier Dolan

Xavier Dolan dazzles with an epic romance between a bohemian couple. When Laurence confesses that he believes he's transgendered, his relationship with Frédérique is sent spiraling. An audacious and searing meditation on love and sexuality.

23-year-old writer and director Xavier Dolan, who made his name with the promising I Killed My Mother and Heartbeats, tells an emotionally rich and mature story filled with lovingly crafted characters. Set in 1990s Montreal, Laurence Anyways stars French art-cinema mainstay Melvil Poupaud as the eponymous transgender hero. Laurence and his lover Frédérique, played by Suzanne Clément, are beautiful and bohemian, unquestionably and unconventional in love, and devoted to one another. Their otherwise buoyant relationship sinks like stone when a sobbing, heartbroken Laurence tells his secret: that he feels like a woman trapped in man's body. What follows is the dazzling mini-epic spanning a decade of the on-again, off-again relationship between Laurence and Fred, and the inevitable pressure from Laurence's family as he transitions into his true self. While Laurence must navigate the ugliness and prejudice of coming out as a transgendered person, he is ultimately an empowered hero who emerges triumphant—with his family and relationships in tow. Laurence Anyways is an enticing, stylish love story—focusing on self-love, above all else.

Director BiographyMontreal-born child actor Xavier Dolan made his directorial debut at age 20 with the acclaimed I Killed My Mother. A true wunderkind, Laurence Anyways is his third film and continues his exploration of impossible love.

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